Swordhand
by iLoveMyTea
Summary: ArisenxPawn-pairing. Eventually. The Arisens will is never ending, the resolve to survive and fight never ending. But like so many else, such responsibility and courage is impossible to carry alone. How long it will take for her to see, not even the heavenly can predict, and the results are equally as mysterious. Based on the moments experienced in the game. Rating might change.
1. Chapter 1

Good day to you all! This is my first Dragon`s Dogma fanfiction, this game has captured my heart and soul, it is simply wonderful, and therefore, my artistic fingers simply could not let such a story lie. I know many hate it, but it _is _a pairing between the Arisen and the Main Pawn. I based those two (stupidly enough) off two characters I write about in my own personal novel, so you can say I led up to it. Anyway, I am trying to make the Arisen as little Mary Sue and/or heartless bastard/ whimpering little schoolgirl. The same goes for the pawn, I mean, we have a willpower-less nonhuman, and a newly heart-missing, freshly created warrior to pair. THAT is not an easy task. This is based on the _ game_ and the characters shall be treated thereafter, though, of course, with a couple of obvious changes. I hate to say this story will be, most probably, slow going, such as, you won`t see any "special" interaction between the pawn and arisen at least until chapter 5 or even six. It depends on how much or how detailed I write. I prefer a detailed and strong story instead of a short, lousy one. I am sort of an old school writer, although my English vocabulary is limited. My mother tongue is not English, so, henceforth, there might be some spelling mistakes, and I haven`t gotten my hands on a beta yet. If someone finds this story tasteful and want to help me, please message me. Also, at the end of each story, I will probably write about what inspired me for that particular moment, and explain what really happened, you know, for fun.

With love, iLoveMyTea 3

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It was a fair morning. Like every other morning really. The salty breeze was soft and as usual, extraordinary refreshing. The sun was scorching, like every other day, the air strangely dry despite having the sea as neighbor. It was a regular day, a normal day,like any other day. She liked these days, they were so... Normal.

Two village children ran beside her, and greeted her as usually with their encouraging waving and smiles. Villagers smiled and waved, she greeted them back, a large grin on her the breeze went past her, and she slowly tucked a strand of her golden blonde hair behind her air and inhaled deeply the smell of familiar air. Here she had lived, all her life, the villagers her family, the solid, box-shaped buildings her home. For how long exactly, she didn`t know, time flew quickly around in these parts. She proceeded following the two children, only to be greeted by the suns uprising, harsh, as usual. She shielded her eyes quickly,before lowering her hand down to look at the view.

No matter what, the appearance of this place never ceased to amuse her, or bewitch her. She smiled. A sudden difference in the air hit her, and several people were gathering in front of the village gates. Two soldiers from the capital in fact, were standing broad under the archway, their swords held high, their voices loud.

"Her ye! Her ye! The prophets `ave spoken, friends! The dragon`s return is night!"

Murmurs immediately started flowing. "Dragons?" "That cannot be?" The soldier continued.

"Join the hon`rable duke`s ranks and help us be rid o` the fell beast! The day`s come to lay down rod and reel and take up the sword!"

"Rubbi`s`" A fisher muttered, voicing the meaning of many. Most of them were not even looking at the soldiers, the blond girl included. She quickly got her eyes on her sister, or, best friend, or cousin, or, whatever. All that mattered was that they had been together all their lives, playing together, growing up together. They may not be sister by blood, but by soul, they were united. Quina as well noticed her friend, and they waved energetic at each other.

But before they had even managed to drop their hands down, a strong, harsh gust of wind and sand hit them both in the eye, and they shielded them in reflects. The soldiers ceased talking, and the villagers stopped dead in their tracks. Everyone's eyes were directed to the sea. Seconds ticked by, Quina ran up to her friend and stood closely beside her. She was obviously scared.

A villager, gosh, he looked like he had witnessed the opening of hells gates themselves, ran up the hill and over to the spectators. He was sweating and panting like crazy. He pointed up to the sky.

"IT`S-IT`S, IT`S THE DRAGON!"

Gasps of disbelief filled the air, and Quina looked wide eyed at her friend. It could not be? Before Quina could do anything else, her friend ran along with several other villagers, the soldiers included, down to the beach. And the sight they met, neither of them, those who were lucky enough to tell the tale, would never, never, be able to forget about it. A dragon. A grand, blood-red, enormous dragon, came flying through the thin clouds,and was heading directly towards the village.

The blonde one almost shrieked in shock, and was frozen stiff in wonder. It came so close, she could count the numer of spikes upon its back, as it left out a powerful roar and flapped its powerful wings, large and solid enough to break the port apart, sending bits and pieces of wood and rock flying all over the beach. Somewhere behind the villagers on the shore, a large crash exploded through the air, as one of the pieces crashed and smashed into the buildings.

Then, the dragon landed into the sea. Panic overtook them all, shrieking and screaming the all took into sprint, man and children alike. The soldiers dropped their weapons and fled, their oldest human emotion taking over, commanding them to flee.

The blonde one fled too, but not for long, another human emotion taking over. How dared that dragon endanger er kin? How dared that dragon attack her village, her people, her friends? Filled with this overflowing feeling of rage and determination, she spun around and grabbed a hold of the soldiers sword, laying in the sand. Gritting her teeth, inhaling shortly, she hastily made her way back to the shore.

She could only gasp in horror. The dragon had reached the white, dry sands of the shore already, and several villagers fell either dead or wounded upon the sand, gasping and begging for mercy and help. The dragon then proceeded to blast its powerful fireblast towards her, and she barely managed to avoid it, jumping to the side, feeling it graze her slightly. She had never held a sword before, but so be it! Sprinting towards it head fist, her mind went slightly blank as she grabbed a hold of the dragons front claws, climbing up its scales as quickly as she could. Finally finding foothold, just near its elbow, she begun slashing wildly at it, putting all her arms strength into piercing the dragons tough skin. But no matter how much she slashed, or hacked or stabbed, it didn`t even make a scratch. It quickly shooed her off simply by taking a step forward, although, pumped with adrenalin, she quickly retaliated, and prepared to throw her sword into the dragons chest.

And it hit her flat-handed in a single strike, sending her flying across the sands.

The hit the ground hard, several times in fact, smashing her head. When her body finally stopped moving, she could barely see the sky anymore, the air in her lungs knocked out and her head pounding in agony. She couldn`t even coff, so much was the pain to bear.

It was so much, she didn`t notice her sword falling from the dragons grasp, she didn`t notice the dragons milky-white eyes turn red as fire, and she barely, just barely, noticed it coming towards her, step by step, its weight shaking the ground as it went.

Slowly, she started opening her eyes, only to stand face to face with the red nemesis. To her surprise, it begun speaking in an unknown tounge, its eyes almost hiding a smile and it harshly hit its tail unto the ground. It moved its eyes closer, as if to inspect her, and the blonde one barely managed to lift her head up too bring forth a grimace filled with malice and hatred. Then, it begun lifting its claw, directing one, large claw directly at her, as it kept speaking its unknown language. Now fear begun to overtake her, but her treacherous body refused to move, as it moved closer, and closer to her chest.

_**Pain.**_

She gasped loudly in blood-wreathing agony as her chest was burst open, and she literally lifted from the ground from the impact. The sun hit her eyes and all she saw was white. She harshly met the ground, feeling her blood mix with the sea water, and the red drenching the sandy white sand. The dragon lifted its claw, her still beating heart attached to its tip. It brought it closer to its face. It begun talking yet again, a pleasing tune to it, as if strangely satisfied, as the heart started glowing. The blonde one twitched in unfamiliar pain, as she, with her last willpower, desperately reached for her stolen heart, only to witness the last sounds of her heartbeat, and the sight of the dragon opening its mouth, and swallowing her heart whole. The last thing she saw, was her own hand falling from view, and the great dragon smiling at her, before everything went black.

Quina ran as fast as her legs could bear her towards the shore. She had seen her friend take arms against the dragon. She prayed she was not injured, she prayed she wasn`t dead. She quickly noticed the familiar locks of hair from her friend laying like a halo around her head, and she quickly crouched down beside her. Her clothes were drenched in blood, ans she had a large scar across her chest. Placing her hand above her mouth, she was shocked to feel the familiar feeling of a persons breath. Weak, but still there. She shouted out; "Help me! She`s still alive!" and then witnessed her friend painfully trying to lift herself up, before lying back down into the soft sand. Some villagers came running towards her. "You`re gonna get help! Don`t leave me! Don`t die!-

-_Kendrya_!"


	2. Chapter 2: Myrmidon

I decided to put out chapter 2 at once. Simply one chapter is not a good enough starter for people to become interested. Enjoy. :)

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How long she had been sleeping, she had no idea, but when Kendrya woke up, she was amused by how little pain she felt in her aching, no headache, just this, dull, strange feeling in her chest. She slowly lifted herself up, noticing she was in the chiefs hall, along with several other villagers. When did she get her? Looking down on herself, she first noticed her bloody and torn clothes.  
Almost her entire chest was exposed, and if not for the next thing she noticed, she would probably had covered herself up, or at least blushed. What caught her eyes, was that fresh, newly added, vein-formed scar between her breast. The dull pain was still there. Shocked, she placed her hand there, as if to check as if it was real.

_**If you would face me**_

She gasped in surprise at the sudden voice, sounding as if there was someone right beside her ear talking to her, she quickly scanned the room, only to yet feel it abandoned by new people, before placing her hand back to her chest. It glowed, a if the sun herself had taken home inside her chest. And now, she listened.

_**Take up arms, newly Arisen**_

The dragon. She knew that voice. It was the dragon speaking to her. Slowly, her memory came back.

The dragon, stole her heart. A new determination built up in her, well, heart-less core, and her eyes slowly fixed themselves upon a display of several weapons. Not bothering about the dangers, not bothering about what she would leave behind, at least for now. Not even bothering about the villager she almost stepped upon as she walked, she soon stood in front of the weapons.

An old staff, two rusty daggers, and a rusty sword.

Kendryas gaze first fell upon the daggers. They were swift, and effective, crouching her brows, she thought the had never been much of the fast type.

Her hand then grabbed a hold of the staff, magic pulsating within it. Yes, this would perhaps suffice, she had seen a mage once, they were incredible strong and powerful, able to create magic beyond most humans wildest dreams.

Still, when her eyes caught the sword, she slowly put the staff back. Recent memories flashed before her. A soldiers sword, the dragons unbreakable scales, the defeat. Carefully, she grabbed the hilt of the sword and brought its brown edges into closer view, before holding it before her. She was defeated by a sword. And she would take back victory with a sword, just to prove the dragon how much it had underestimated her.  
Taking in a shaking breath, she equipped the sword, and made her way to the outside of the building, only to find Quina, and her father, the chief, speaking in hushed voices.

"You say it`s left a glowing scar?"

"Yes. The wound has closed, and it seems the worst had passed, but-"

Quina hesitated.

"Her heart lies silent!"

Out of reflect, Kendrya almost touched her chest again, only to feel the pulsating energy of the dragons voice through her head yet again, suprising her,almost gasping loudly enough for the chief and the daughter to hear.

"You`re sure o` this?"

Quina nodded.

"Ill magic... the work of some curse! The whole world`s already gone mad for fear o` this dragon. Won`t no good come o` this." The chief noticed his daughters inner struggles. "I must go see the others, Quina. Tell me if aught changes here." "Alright." She told him. And just as the chief went through the door, Kendrya emerged from her hiding, and as Quina turned around to head for the chiefs meeting room, she gasped as she stood face to face with her friend. Her friend with an unusual sturdy and harsh face. She bit her lip.

"You should be abed. I wish you would not strain yourself so. I worry for you, cos." At the sound of her worried voice, Kendryas face softened up a bit. "I know, I`m sorry.." she said quietly. "But I am quite alright, and I must, no, I need to go." Quina looked surprised at her friend. "Go? Go where?" Kendrya shock her head. "I don`t know. Somewhere. To get stronger." "W-why?" "The dragon." Kendrya gritted her teeth. "I`m gonna defeat the dragon." "The chief says your injury could be a curse from the dragon. If so, that`s not something I know how to heal." She clutched her hands together. "But there must be a way." Kendrya smiled weakly and gently took her friends hands in her own. "And that`s why I have to go. I`m gonna find it, no matter what!"  
Due her encouraging words, Quina returned her smile, and Kendrya let go of her before turning towards the door. "Oh, and Kendrya?" Quina suddenly asked, making Kendrya turn towards her, sending her a confused gaze. Quina looked at her dead serious. "You better have someone follow you on your travels, you always tend to get lost..."  
Kendrya sent her a pouting expression before muttering, "My, thanks a lot.." then she walked outside.

Once again the world was exposed to her. The town of Cassardis laid bare before her, the sea, the plains, everything. But she had no time for that, not now. Taking in a deep breath, she started sprinting down the stairs from the chiefs building, only to shortly be met by the scenario of several villagers desperately tending to their wounded ones. They were suffering. Almost crying in sorrow and despair. In her mind, she thought, once I`ve slain the dragon and gotten my heart back, no one will be sad again.

She made haste and headed towards the city gates. If the soldiers were right, there would be an encampment nearby, she had seen some soldiers coming and go there. If she wanted to get strong so she could fight, that would most likely be the place to go. Her mind strictly set on the target, she quickly approached the gates. She slowed down in front of it. She hadn`t left the city too many times, in fact, only but a few times in her live to gather flowers, and that`s it. Her moment of hesitation made her stop, her non-existing heart beating, and a tingling sensation pulsated through her veins.

This made her stop all together. Why would her veins tingle, and why did her fingertips itch? On her left side, near the well, a strange, foreign sound emitted, and Kendrya snapped her head towards the distraction. A large, cloudy circle of something looking like smoke, colored like the darkest of nights, appeared before her. She blinked confused at it, and she almost jumped when a clear, green light suddenly burst through the fog, and for a second, it almost appeared to be a tunnel. Had the gods re-decided and remembered that she was living without a heart, and that she was supposed to have died yesterday?

Then, she jumped. A pair of boots, no, an entire person, suddenly fell from the thick clouds and landed heavily onto the ground. It was so unexpected, so unnatural, Kendrya jumped an entire foot backwards and let out an uncharacteristic shriek. Slowly, the darkness from the fog disappeared from the person, and a man stood in front of her, a man with red, curly hair and a thick mustache and goatee. He had strangely friendly eyes. And he was just staring at her. Then, he suddenly lifted his right hands, Kendrya was for a moment thinking if he was about to do a bow or something alike the kind, but the palm of his hand suddenly glowed with the strange light and in the same pattern as the scar she had on her chest, and for a moment, it almost felt like she had a heartbeat, just for a second, before it grew dim once again. She glanced at her chest, before looking at him curiously. Who, or what was this man? First, dragons come to Cassardis, and now, men were dropping from the sky?

Suddenly the chief, from wherever he had come from, appeared in front of the gates and crossed his hands. "That man you were speaking with-" he began, making Kendrya lift an eyebrow as if to ask;_ I didn`t speak with him._ "- he`s o`the pawn legion." "The, pawn legion?" Kendrya muttered, before sending a swift glance at the red haired man. "They come from some unknown place. Just appear, without a warning. They`re a strange lot." Now, Kendrya was a momet from almost telling the chief that that statement was kinda rude, but he continued before she had the time to tell him. "Not human, quite. They look the part sure enough. But they lack the will, the spark that drives us. They have no capacity to feel nor act alone, so they sell as sellswords. Myrmidons they`re called."  
At this, Kendrya turned full-face towards the "myrmidon". Her face was shocked, not in fear, not in surprise, but sadness.  
No will? No feelings? These people, this man, was naught but a shell? A walking, soulless body with no emotions nor dreams? She stared at the man, who did nothing but look back, an emotionless mask upon his face. He certainly looked human, and yet, he had no feelings? Kendrya felt dreadful for them, and she coulnd`t help to wonder, what was worse? To loose your heart, but still be yourself, or to be without willpower and have no desires nor fears. The chief then couched, interrupting her ship of thoughts. "Mm... There`s an encampment west for the village were man gather to face the dragon." Well, that`s where I was headed, Kendrya thought. "I`d wager a fair number of his kind will be there as well." Oh? "Why don`t you take him? Might be you learn aught o` why he came to you in the first place." "But what if he doesn`t-" before Kendrya managed to finish her sentence, the chief simply walked away, leaving her with the myrmidon.

Slowly, almost suspiciously, she walked towards the gate and got out of it, keeping an close eye to the man. In the split of a second the gate closed behind them, he suddenly took of, leaving her behind. "To the road should see us there." And he was off. Kendrya stood behind, a befuddled expression on her face, before taking off after him, Quinas words echoing through her head. Despite there being a road, she knew quite well she would get lost without a guide. At least this guy seemed to know his way.

She sprinted after him, when suddenly, he stopped. She almost slid on the gravel so she wouldn`t smash into him. "**Careful**!" he exclaimed, "**A goblin**!" and sure enough, right on front of them on the road, several goblins were pummeling a poor peddler with blunt, spiky weapons, literally screaming in glee. It was the first time Kendrya had seen one. Gods, they were hideous!

Her instinct took over yet again, as she drew her sword and ran head first into the crowd of dirty, aggressive goblin. A goblin turned around just in time to see her before getting her rusty sword straight into its face, making it scream in pain and stopping its attack on the peddler. Another nearby goblin took fast notice of the girl, and liftet its weapon to smash her down, and Kendrya, was to busy slashing wildly at the already wounded goblin to notice it, would have felt the sting of her ignorance too,if not for the sudden exploding warmth near her head, and the goblin behind her came flying past her and into the ground several feet away.  
She spun around quickly enough to snap her neck, only to see the myrmidon with a staff in his hands, ready to fire yet another fire-spell. He was a mage! Now this surprised her, for he certainly didn`t dress like one. Standing with her mouth agape for a few seconds, both human and goblin alike, she then gave the mage a wide, thankful smile and a nod, before slashing two goblins at once. Despite the goblins being somewhat easy to beat when the mage suddenly enchanted her sword with fire, claiming that ;"Goblins ill like fire!", she couldn`t help but drain all her stamina in her onslaught of attacks, and was covered in bruises and cuts.

"Quite the fighter eh?" the peddler almost shouted when they were done with the goblins. Kendrya had to admit, fighting, felt great, and even greater when people were as thankful as this. The peddler thanked them again and again, shaking her hands several times, before giving her a cape as a thank you gift.

Not before long, the myrmidon started running towards the encampment, making her back into sprinting after him yet again. "This road will have us at the encampment ere much longer." He said, easily as nothing as he ran, though when they finally had the wooden gates in sight, Kendrya was already wobbling and gasping of fatigue, she didn`t even have the energy to scream WAIT for him. When they got withing the rage of almost touching the wall, the myrmidon came to a halt in order to open the gate and said; "We`ve arrived, Master." Catching her breath in dry heaves, Kendrya gasped out, "M-Master?" before wobbling after the supposedly never-tiring man. _Did these guys NEVER tire?_

When they stood inside the encampment, Kendryas head felt like it was filled with air, so first, she really though the voices she heard was just her immagination.

_Well met Arisen, can you hear our voice?_

"To the best of my knowledge... we are near a rift stone, if memory serves." The myrmidon said. As Kendrya started dragging her feet towards the sorce of the voices, the red-haired man following closely behind, she rasped worth the question,"Hey, can you heal stamina?" Insted of answering her, he started running again. "I know the way, Master. Follow me. It must be near." Gasping, she smashed after him, "I am nobodys master!" They go close to a tent, a tent both decorated with capes and various weaponry. Inside, was a strange, blue stone, with even stranger engravings in it. It was as if someone had cut it in half by sheer force, and then pained its letters in the color of the shimmering moon. It was... extraordinary. When she walked closer, her fatigue soon forgotten, it was as if the inscriptions caught fire, before shining even stronger, and then, the voices appeared.

_Well met, Arisen, can you hear our voice?_

Unconciously, Kendrya nodded.

_We speak to you from great distance. The pawn legion has awaited you._

The pawn legion?

_Pray, forgive this strange and unpersonal meeting. This rift serves as a gate. It connects our kind to your world. It opens to the Arisen, for they possess a will powerful enough to guide the legion. If you would claim to be among the Arisen, prove the strenght of your resolve._

Kendrya was so... bewiddeled by these words. Another word? Another kind? A rift? So many thought clouded her head, and still, she was absolutly sure her answer was correct, when she said loud and clearly; "YES."

_Very well. Then we shall guide you in your trial. If you are an Arisen in truth, then this task should prove no Arisen must possess the valor to stand against all threats, and the power to qwell them. A tireless spirit of self-improvement grants the strenght to lead the legion. Pray, show it now._

Kendrya just nodded slowly, before the light of the stone dimished, and the voices stopped. Turning around, the saw the myrmedion behind her. Unusually quiet, she walked up to him. "A riftstone.A strange power emanates from within." He stated. Kendrya nodded. She suddenly remembered something. "Say, what`s your name?" "Rook." He simply stated, looking at her."We better search the area." Kendrya gazed up at him and sent him a determent nod. "Yeah, let`s go!"

It didn`t take long to understand what the stone had sent for her. Soldiers started running all over the place, yelling about a beast and telling everyone to hurry. Kendrya and Rook followed suit. "There may be prowling monsters about." Rook said. "You don`t say?!" Kendrya told him, as they ran out the gates.

Then she stared. A cyclops. You had got to be kidding. At least five men high and three men wide, this thing was a monster. It was thrashing about, surrounded by both goblins and soldiers alike, smacking away anything in its path. "We have no choice, to arms!" Rook shouted, before suddenly murmuring something along the lines of, "Built to keep out goblins I should think" Kendrya had to mentally shook her head just to check if she heard right.

No matter, she had a monster to slaughter. Sprinting as fast as she could, she made a jump for it, and grabbed a hold of the cyclops, hopefully, leathery pants. At once, the gigantic creature started twisting and turning, trying to shrug her off, but Kendrya kept her grip firmly, and begun slashing out on the things back.

Only a few seconds passed, before a peculiar feeling came washing down on her. Did they suddenly gain air? It was as if time slowed down, as she turned her head away from the creature to look behind her. She was vertical, hanging in mid air, the ground under her, and the giants body on top of her. Her instinct failed her miserably as the creature landed with a loud crash and Kendrya felt as if all the bones in her body turned to flour.

Pain ran through all her senses, and she let out a chocked sound of terror as she tried to move. It was the sight of a cyclops ready to smash her with its enormous hand that made her take a sprint jump away from it, getting into safety, but limping horribly. She was shaking, the pain in her arms and legs felt like it was killing her.

Suddenly, Rook appeared before her, staff at the ready. "Healing, coming up!" he said, and a green light engulfed him. Kendrya felt herself relax a bit, before her face morphed into sheer terror. "ROOK! WATC-" she didn`t even manage to finish her sentence, before the mage was thrown into the air by the cyclops and landed several feet away, not even managing to let out a sound of pain. Kendrya stared after him, her face filled with fear. Was he all right? Was he alive? He was injured. He was injured because he was bus healing her. Kendrya felt as if a new power engulfed her, and she snarled at the cyclops.

Forgetting her pain, she grabbed the hilt of her sword tightly, before storming straight at the monster, cutting down a surprised goblin in the process. This time, she grabbed a hold of its arm, and without wasting any time cutting through the solid skin, she climbed quickly all the way up to its head. It started moaning in displeasure of someone climbing on top of its head, before its voice was silenced forever. A well-aimed, clear thrust of her sword had pierced through the monsters eye and far into its skull, ending the beast, making it fall onto the ground, Kendrya following suit. It felt like hours ticked by, dust and stones filling the air.

Soldiers were gathering around the scene, someone in awe, someone in sheer surprise and wonder. Despite the agony, Kendrya pulled herself upright, ignored Rooks words about healing her, despite the joy it was to hear that he was alright, and quickly made her way inside the encampment. Walking, or rather, limping, she made her way back to the rift stone. Nothing else mattered, she had to tell it she had triumphed.

She had slayed the monster, she had fought against a powerful foe, and won, with her own hands and her own will. Just like they wanted.

The world became foggy due her fatigue as she drew near it, and its voice rung in her ear as she reached inside the tent and stood before the stone.

_With that, your trial is complete. You are the Arisen in truth, proven beyond any doubt. _

_Now, I bid you select a companion for the journey ahead. They shall serve you, and you alone, to share in your hardships and aid you in every endevaor._

Kendrya was quick to select.

"A mage..!" She stuttered. "I need the help of one more mage, so one can help another!" As she was speaking, Rook as made his way up to her, and was currently healing her, so that she might finish her conversation with the rift-stone without fainting.

As her wound healed, Kendrya placed her hands at her knees and took in several stuttered breaths, trying to rid off her fatigue. Just as she had managed to straighten herself up, and had stopped gasping for breath, a somewhat familiar cloud of shadowy smoke appeared before her.

She stared wideeyed at it, mainly because it was so extremely close, but also due the fact she had chosen another follower without even looking, nor listening, not thinking about what her choice might do in the future. Her empty heart-core was pounding as yet another cloaked feet made their way onto the wooden floor, soon followed by by the linens of a robe and a cloak.

She could barely make out the shape of a man, about two-three heads taller than her, with a mages cloak and a wand resting on his back. Slowly, oh ever so slowly, the darkness that surrounded him begun to fade, and the first thing she noticed was a pair of intense, ice-blue eyes, before the rest of the body became visible. The follower she had chosen was a mage. A mage whose appearance seemed to be of a canvas of which someone had decided to paint only in black and white. His skin was truly pale, and his hair black as ebony. Just like Rook had done, he lifted his right hand and showed the shining mark engraved into his palm, and just as Rook, with an emotionless expression on his face.

Despite her best efforts, Kendrya couldn`t help but to be taken aback by his appearance, and blinked rapidly, but she was even more surprised when both Rook and the new mage suddenly bowed to her without warning. She opened and closed her mouth slightly a couple of times, before the weight of the situation took a hold of her, and she stilled. "Our fealty is sworn to you, Arisen. From this day, the legions men call "pawns", live and die by your command." Rook spoke out clearly, looking straight into her face, letting the information sink in, before closing his eyes and bowing his head to her.

Kendrya was unable to mutter even a single word, as more and more of these "pawns", that had for some reason entered the tent without her noticing, bowed down to her.

**They bowed to her, a young, long haired, freckled, inexperienced girl, covered from top to toe in dirt and dust, her hair a mess, and with dried flecks of blood all over her skin. Needless to say, Kendrya was befuddled. And slightly embarrassed by her appearance.**

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I`ve always found the first battle hilarious. I did yell in annoyance and anger when I first fought that thing, especially when already explained scene took place- I never thought I would ever be humiliated to the level where I would faceplant the mountain sized butt-of-an-cyclops. Oh well, It made for great writing though, and I personally find it fitting. Its humiliating, it happens to everyone, at least ONCE (don`t deny it) and I can reuse this in order to humiliate this stories Arisen. No one is perfect, but being used as a temporarily chair by a cyclops is just hysterical. Oh, an yes! Yay, we get to see the Pawn. :) I wanted to save him for next chapter. But, Oh well. Do leave critique and reviews.


	3. Chapter 3: Training

It took Kendrya a few moments to notice she had been staring at the rift stone for a few minutes, before she finally turned around the tent once again.

Most of the "pawns" had left the tent already, only Rook and the other mage was left. Scratching behind her neck, she made her way away from the stone to speak with them. Considering she would probably spend a lot of time with them, the least thing she could do, would be to get to know them. Rook was closest. "So, erhm, what should we do now?" He blinked at her indifferently. "If you are unsure of where to go, you need but to consult your map."

Kendrya felt a certain muscle under her eye twitch slightly and she chuckled nervously. "Well, yeah, about that... I am, truly, not very good with maps, so, you know, if you can, you know, if you feel like it, you know, then perhaps, you could...erhm, you know, guide me, sometimes?" She felt her cheeks burn, no matter how simple a request that was, she hated to admit that she never was able to find her way from A to B. She had lost the count of how many times she had gotten lost in her very own hometown! Rook however, seemed absolutely unfazed by her question. "If it pleases you."

Kendrya inwardly groaned. Now you`re making me sounding like I`m commanding you. She slowly nodded to Rook and smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Rook."

She then turned to the other mage. She was still questioning if it truly was such a good idea to recruit two mages. Perhaps she should have chosen another fighter, like herself, but perhaps a little more experienced so she could learn from them.

Or a ranger, she had seen those in fight. They were nimble and so quick! She remembered how she, clumsily and slowly, had climbed the cyclops back, while a ranger however, would have probably just sprintet on top of the creatures back. Still, done was done, she needed healers though, for protecting herself, she could not. She had, by purpose, left the shield back at the chiefs house. She had never been fond of shields, so she had decided, she would focus all her strenght and energy into the attack. Right into attack ment a lot of damages. Yeah, she definetly needed some mages in her group. "So, I guess were gonna travel a lot together in the future." At this pont, she turned her head slightly at Rook as well. "guess we`ve gotta get to know each other. The name`s Kendrya." She turned to the black haired mage. "and yours?" The man had been giving her his attention all the time, and now he blinked slowly. "My name is Lucien, Master." She nodded at him, before he continued, "and my actions are at your command." Kendryas smile begun to falter a bit. Truly, these guys had all the personality of a sandcorn, and just as colorful as one too, yet, she sent him an apologetic smile mutterend; "Thanks.. Lucien."

Now, the thought of a bath and a fresh set of clothes started occupying her mind. Sending her new companions a small nod, she started aking her way out of the tent. Only to be stopped by a somewhat grim looking soldier. This guy looked like he had seen more than one cyclops, and he almost sounded like one too. "A Master and her pawn, is it?" Kendrya blinked at him. "You`ll be quite the force, come the day you learn to fight as one. Mind you, that`s a skill better honed in practice than in the heat of mortal combat." The girl scratched her chin, trying to figure out where he was going with this. "I can help you in that regard, should you wish it." He crossed his arms and looked at the group with a dead-serious expression, making his ragged lines in his face appear even more frightening. "Really?" Kendrya exclaimed happily, only to make the man, Ser Berne, as she would later know, raised a questioning eyebrowat her and twitched the corner of his lips in annoyance. "I-I mean" she began, "thank you, for your offer, we would gladly-" "you`ll figure out if you wanna thank me after your training, now follow me." He said grumpy, and turned around not caring if she had another question or not. Stunned, Kendrya and her pawns followed Berne.

Shortly after, they arrived at the training ground. "The men of the Enlistment corpse, never turn away the eager. We`re ready to begin, are you?" "Yes sir!" "Let me be clear from the outset. I`m a harsh master, whoever the pupil." _You don`t say? _Kendrya though. "You`ll complete three forms of training in sequence. Each serves to hone a different quality. You`ll need more than raw muscle here." At this, Kendrya sent a small glance down herself. She wasn`t particularity strong or bulk, that was for sure. She had received a somewhat small build as she grew up, luckily, the life in the fisher village at been somewhat harsh to her at times, living off by herself, she had often taken on hard jobs that had required the muscle power of a man, not a woman. She was thankful for it now, considering she probably wouldn`t have been able to swing the sword as much as she did, if not for that. And when it came to her brainwork. Well, time would show.

She was then snapped back to reality when Berne kept talking. "If you find a task to difficult to manage, you might reconsider your party." _No way._ Kendrya mentally protested. If there were someone who could dissapoint now, it was her, and not them. "There are other pawns here, you can choose among them, if you care to." Kendrya shook her head. Berne grunted. "The first task is carrying freight. Haul the lot off them before my count ends. You`re free to choose your company, but this is a task too great for just one person. Many hands lighten any load, as they say. Now, get to it. We`ll begin as soon as you`re prepared. Just give the word."

Kendrya nodded and then sheepisly asked, "Where are the crates?" Berne pointed at a couple of post, some with the crates on top, some with them laying about. "Alright, and wich one do we start with." Berne uncrossed his arms. "Whatever you see fit, in whatever order that seems correct, your time is already ticking, so get your legs out and RUN!" he literally shouted the last word, and Kendrya squeled before sprinting off. "Alright! Rook, you take the one back on the left! Lucien, take the one there in the front, I`ll take the one back to the left!" On cue, the guys went straight to it. "Calm consideration ever wins the day, Master" Lucien said. _Are you being sarcastic now? _ "We have time aplenty." Rook said calmly as he dropped his load from the tower and swiftly slid down the ladder. _Right._ Kendra grabbed a hold of the crate, and dropped it down the tower. She could already see both Rook and Lucien with their weight already placed, so Kendrya decided to save time. Just as easely said as done, she jumped down and laned with a loud thud on the ground, lifted the crate up again, and ran as quickly as she could with it. Placing it down, she felt successful. "We must hurry! there`s no time!" Lucien suddenly said as he dropped the next last crate down the tower. _Already?_ Kendrya sprinted over to the tower, and grabbed a hold of the crate before Aaron had slid down the ladder, and ran across the ground with it, and placed it down.

"**ENOUGH!"**

Bernes voice made her jump skyhigh and she couldn`t help but think if she had done something wrong. Walking over to him, strangely with a somewhat calmer expression, he said, "Well done. Meet each challenge with that vigor, and you`ll make for a fine warrior afor long." Kendrya was stunned. Then her face broke into a brilliant smile as she thanked him kindly. "Next-" Berne said, bringing her yet again back to the training area, "-is combat training. You`ll face my scarecrow army here. Destroy them before my count ends. A large group will be of help again, but this task requires an eye for party composition. A pack of folk all doing the same thing is less effective than a varied approach. Choose well." _Oops._ She barely managed to stop herself halfway to look back at her companions. They were two mages, and one unexperienced fighter. Would that work?. _We`ll soon find out._ "We`ll begin as soon as you are prepared, just give the word." I`m ready." She said. Quite soon the field was covered in scarecrows. Berne begun the countdown,"NOW!" and her little group got to it. Kendrya surprised herself by knocking down two scarecrows at once, probably due the fact she had managed it before with some goblins, and the rest of the challenge went strangely well. Despite them being mages, they sure knew how to wack things down with a staff.

"**ENOUGH!"**

They walked up to him. "Well done. Meet each challenge with that vigor, and you`ll make for a fine warrior afor long." Kendrya made a cheesy smile. Berne crossed his arms. "Well then, last you`ll be destroying scarecrows, but don`t expect a repeat of the last. There are two sorts of scarecrows, each with its own weakness. If you`re not mindful how you attack them,you`ll fail. Strike fast and strike hard. Vary your party and your tactics until you find success. Use your head! We`ll begin as soon as you are prepared, just give the word." "I`m ready!" _We`ve managed this far, we can do it again._ Soon, several, many, many more scarecrows were placed all over the field. At once, Kendrya got confused. They had different colors, but what was she supposed to do with them. At the sound of Bernes voice, Kendrya stood stiff, unable to think about what to do. Was the red still swordskill? Was it the blue? What happened if she attacked the blue? The two followers however, did not vaguer, they ran in front of her and stopped at two different scarecrows. "This scarecrow`s weak to magic!" shouted Lucien, and started shooting bolts from his staff into the blue, wooden figure, and Rook shouted, "This scarecrow`s weak to blows!" and turned to Kendrya to ensure her understanding of his statement. _Right_. Breaking out of her miserable state, Kendrya sprinted forward and smashed the scarecrow down with three single blows, before turning around to the next. When the field was cleared, she ran up to the closest tower, where another red wooden creation stood waiting. She mashed it down in one strike. Just as Bernes voice shatterd through the air, it fell down from the tower and got smashed into the ground. She followed suit her companions over to Berne, whom didn`t look pleased at all. Had they failed? She sank her head a bit and gulped. "That`s-" Berne begun, making Kendrya look up at him again,

" the fastest I`ve seen it done. And a task fit to challenge even a seasoned warrior." He begun clapping like a lunatic, still with this strange frown on his face, but the eagerness in his voice told him away. "We`ll done! You`ve completed your training. See now the difference well-selected partners can make? Yes, no doubt. No doubt. You`ll learn the rest from actuall combat. If you have trouble, examine your party." Kendrya was at loss for words, and she must have looked like a dying fish on land before his words started to sink in. She could`ve almsot jumped with joy and hugged the man in front of it, but managed to behave herself, and insted took the opportunity to smile widely, for to Berne, then to her companions. "We did it!" she exclaimed. "So we did." Lucien said, nodding to her.

* * *

I know this is quite short, and somewhat slow. I`ll definitely speed up the action _a little bit_ and not go into a detailed explanation for everything in the game, that would be dreadful for you readers..

Anyway, I guess I am not alone when it comes to finish that training task on the first go, strangely with only two followers, how unrealistic it may sound.

Will update more within the week.

Still looking for beta.

Please review! :)


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